Posted: 24 October 2021 (reading time: 7 minutes; 1464 words)
Recap by Melissa Savlov
Our story resumes with a fallen Frost Giantess, surrounded by two attacking yeti. Asgardeyda attempted to rescue her and win her favor so that the Frost Giants would contribute their might to Vali’s war against the corrupt king. Fortunately, our heroes soon managed to vanquish both yeti and cure the wounds of the fallen giant.
The freshly healed Frost Giant introduced herself as Ygfr. Ygfr couldn’t believe that these tiny beings successfully felled the ferocious yeti when she could not. In return, she agreed to bring them back to her village. She even advised them on the appropriate gifts to bring. Initially, the group thought to bring the Frost Giants the fresh yeti meat. But Ygfr informed them that Frost Giants don’t eat yeti. So, they used the yeti meat to attract some bears, which would make a more appropriate gift. They all headed to Ygfr’s village, with an offering of a couple of goats and the meat of four bears.
Ygfr also gave Laguza a new nickname, which she loves: Little Giant. Soon, Greunthrn, Belnirith, Vyshka, Little Giant, and Ygfr approached the Frost Giant village. Its icy edifices of 40 feet tall evoked a sense of awe in the small-scale adventurers, even though this was a modest community with a small population.
Ygfr introduced her new allies to the tribe, trying to downplay the fact that they rescued her despite being about an eighth of her size. These odd strangers attracted quite a bit of curiosity. At Belnirith’s request, Ygfr introduced them to Forl, the village healer, before returning home for some much-needed rest and recovery.
Then, Krussir, the Frost Giant leader, approached the miniature misfits, having heard rumors of their arrival. When he asked the purpose of their visit, they told him about the incipient war foreseen by Odin, Thor, and Heimdall. But Krussir wasn’t particularly invested. He told them that, during The Horrors, the Frost Giants remained in the mountains and avoided the war.
Nevertheless, these weird little warriors amused him. So, he offered to direct them to Ofrik, the great Frost Giant warrior, if they could beat some of the Frost Giants in a game of Knattleikr. The game is based on simple rules but gives the Frost Giants a huge advantage because of their greater brawn and reach — not to mention the fact that the giants frequently play this game, and Asgardeyda had never even heard of it before their arrival in the Frost Giant caverns.
The tiny troop formed an intrepid team and gave it their best shot. Belnirith — whom the giants taunted with the nickname “Toothpick Girl” — stunned everyone by hitting an enormous stone ball with her slender staff (or, “toothpick”), right toward her teammate Laguza. Then, the Little Giant made astounding progress on her first attempt to run the huge stone across the field toward the opposite goal. Even Vyshka, who resented having to play this childish game, had some great luck when her passionate attack on a giant opponent’s shins sent him toppling to the ground. This gave Greunthrn the perfect opportunity to move into position and freeze out another player, who suddenly found himself immobile for reasons he couldn’t fathom. Before anyone knew it, Laguza ran the ball across the goal line for a big win! The Frost Giants were amazed and impressed that these tykes beat their best players at their own game. They patted them on the back and then headed off to the tavern to recount a sporting tale that would likely be told for years to come.
As promised, Krussir brought them to Ofrik’s home. They traveled through a maze of tunnels until they finally reached a door that opened to a cavernous room. Toward the back of this chilly cave, they noticed a fierce-looking 22-foot tall Frost Giant lying on a gigantic ice slab. His eyes were open. He was breathing, but comatose. They all turned to Krussir, who chuckled, “Well, I promised to bring you to Ofrik, and there he is!”
The group was not amused. Belnirith could tell that there was necrotic magic emanating the prostrate Frost Giant. But her attempt to dispel it had no effect. Greunthrn, who (like Laguza and Vyshka) is fluent in the Giant language, asked Krussir for some background on what happened to Ofrik. Krussir recounted that Ofrik had gone up to the nearby ruins a couple of days ago and this is how he was found.
It’s almost dark at this point. Hence, the tired travelers returned to the Great Hall, where they had been invited to stay for the night. Laguza played some games using the boulder-sized dice she’d made with the local children. Meanwhile, Greunthrn asked around and found someone who agreed to point them in the general direction of the ruins the following day.
The next morning, the group located the site of the ruins right away. They noticed a square wooden plank, which Belnirith managed to open with a spell. That plank turned out to be a door, which led to a series of stairs, separated by landings. Using Belnirith’s raven familiar Asja, and some of Greunthrn’s twinkling lights, they scoped out the surroundings and eventually descended the staircase. At some point, Asja spied a winged creature from behind. This nefarious-looking thing noticed the flashing lights and went still. He asked: “Did you bring the head? I’m ready to dissect it.”
Belnirith returned Asja to safety, entered the room, and boldly demanded: “What head are you looking for?”
In response, the thing remarked, “I take it my Shadow Horror is dead, then? I knew it would fail!” This monster seemed to have been expecting them. Everyone in the room could see that it had a giant brain with tentacles dangling in front of it. Belnirith and Vyshka didn’t fear it, but both Laguza and Greunthrn trembled at the sight of him. When the team attacked it, its injuries spewed yellow spores.
“Killing me won’t affect the great Cthuga! It will come and burn your skies! And then, the King in Yellow will reign!” They all momentarily envisioned someone (or thing) with a yellow a beak, but then the image faded away. Seizing on their distraction, the brain-tentacled monster grabbed Vyshka with its claw and grappled her. When she shots a bolt at it from close range, acid spores singed her coppery skin. Belnirith commanded it to drop Vyshka. Then, Greunthrn pierced its brain to death! Turns out, it was a sentient plant from another plane.
On the table, they found crystalline lantern with a miniature of Ofrik inside it. Belnirith had encountered something similar before; she knew it held his soul. The group also found eight diamonds and bodily remains inside a chain shirt. The chain shirt emanated magic.
By the time they return to the Frost Giant village, it’s after dark. Laguza requested an escort back to Ofrik’s. Belnirith couldn’t speak Giant, so she asked Vyshka to summon Forl, the healer. Once Belnirith restored Ofrik’s soul, he awoke suddenly and immediately grabbed for his weapon. Wild-eyed and barely conscious, Ofrik yelled: “I’ll kill that damn plant!” Then, he came to his senses and noticed that he was back in his own cave — and surrounded by tiny strangers.
“Who are you?” In response to their explanation, he replied: “Well, thanks. It’s embarrassing that you little people had to rescue me. But I’m glad I’m back in my body now.”
The exhausted team returned to the Great Hall for some much-needed rest after Ofrik agreed to seek them out the following day. Unfortunately, that day was not as auspicious as the day of the Knattleikr match because they all found themselves pathetically unpersuasive when it came to convincing Ofrik to help them.
No matter what approach Greunthrn took, Ofrik remained unimpressed. Vyshka’s attempt only managed to offend him. Belnirith thought she might have been able to convince him if only she spoke Giant. But she didn’t, and the translations via Greunthrn fell flat. The mention of Osk’s name generated a bit of interest, but not enough to persuade Ofrik to act.
Eventually, Laguza figured out that Ofrik probably wanted some payback after his ordeal with the plant monster. Even though logic had left him unmoved, appealing to his anger got Ofrik onboard right away. Finally, Ofrik agreed to join them and called out to the Great Hall: “War party!”
Belnirith sent Asja ahead to let Osk know they were on their way. Hence, almost all of Vestri Keep was present to witness the arrival of Asgardeyda, followed by four towering Frost Giants. Though a few of the young ones trembled, the majority of Vali’s supporters celebrated their now vastly improved odds of overthrowing the corrupt king.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Filed under